The tie-man knew he was being chaffed, but he was not foolish enough to show resentment. Instead, he returned the grin.
"Eden oughta make his brand bigger--he's got all the side o' the animal," he said.
They laughed at this, but he fancied he could detect dis appointment in their expressions. The arrival of another steer. hauled by the ropes of two perspiring, blasphemous riders. ended the incident. From then on the man from Crawling Creek was kept busy, and, as he now expected, four out of every five of the beasts he handled bore the S E brand. So it was plain rustling. Nevertheless, he did his work with a thoroughness which earned reluctant approval even from Navajo.
"That hombre knows his job," he admitted to Ropey. "Shore does," that worthy agreed. "Never seed anyone tie 'em so slick."
"Mebbe ; but I don't like him," Navajo said.
"I'm plumb astonished," was Ropey's unveracious retort.
Chapter VI
THE outlaw leader returned that same evening, and from his cheerful mood, it was evident that his errand had been successful. After supper, he called Sudden aside.
"Been helpin' the boys brand?" he asked casually.
"Been helpin" 'em blot brands," Sudden corrected.
Rogue's brows ridged in a little frown. "Yu didn't think this was a Methodis' community when yu come here, did yu?" he asked acidly, and then, "Shucks, what's a few cows anyway? I got a big thing on now, Jim, one that'll give yu a chance o' gettin' away for a time. Savvy?"
Sudden nodded, and the other went on exultantly, "Here's the lay-out: Eden is takin' a hefty herd--three thousand head--north, an' a fella I know is hopin' it won't get there." He smiled felinely. "In fact, he's hopin' so hard that he's willin' to pay pretty handsomely if it don't, an' buy--at a fair price--all the S E cows offered him."
"Failure to make the drive would bust Eden wide open, huh?"
"Yeah, it's his last hope, I reckon ; he's been buyin' land an' got in deep. But that don't concern me ; a fella has to take care of hisself. Now, he'll want riders an' I'm proposin' that yu an' Sandy get took on--can't use the other boys, their faces is known. Yu can see how it would help me to have a coupla men on the inside. We'll be on the heels o' the herd an' cankeep in touch with yu. Far as yo're concerned, it gives yu a trail outa present trouble an' a tidy wad into the bargain. What d'yu say?"
"I'll drop in at the S E in the morning'," Sudden told him. "Where d'yu aim to break the drive?"
"That'll depend on how things pan out, but not till they've got too far to come back an' gather another herd," the outlaw said. "Glad yo're comin' in, Jim ; yu can wise up Sandy." He hesitated a moment. "Hear yu had trouble with Ropey."
Sudden laughed. "I just had to let the fellas know that I'm growed up. I'd say it was Navajo's play."
"Like enough," Rogue agreed, and his face grew dark. "One day I'll have to argue with that hombre."
The cowboy came away from the interview with mixed feelings, certain only of one thing--he would join the S E, but whether as friend or foe he had not decided ; the deliberate part of his nature was in charge at the moment. He found Sandy loafing outside their habitation and prefaced his message from Rogue by relating his adventure of the previous afternoon.
"Well, if yu ain't the lucky one!" the young man ejaculated. "Here's me been ridin' round for weeks an' never had no chance to deliver a distressed damsel. Bet she's hatchet-faced, squint-eyed, an' bellers like a sick cow."
"yu musta seen the lady," Sudden smiled.
"I ain't--never knowed there was any female women in this neck o' the woods," was the reply. "Who is she?" For Sudden had not told all the story.
"Sam Eden's daughter."
"She was stringin' yu--he ain't got any."
"Adopted daughter, I oughta said--orphaned kid of an old friend," Sudden explained, adding inconsequently, "Eden offered me a job."
"coin to take it?"
"We are," replied the other, and went on to tell of the outlaw leader's designs, and the part they were to play. Sandy listened with wooden features.
"Sounds good," he commented. "I'd shore like to be in on that drive ; but Rogue's wrong in one thing--I ain't such a stranger around here." He thought awhile and then slapped his knee. "Got it!" he exclaimed.
"What, a mosquito?" Sudden asked.
"No, an idea--don't yu never have none?"
"yeah. Why, both my knees are sore right now."
The youth ignored the gentle raillery. "Where's that stuff yu used on yore hoss?" he inquired.
"On the shelf inside," Sudden replied. "Goin' to black yore lace an' play nigger?"
Sandy's retort was neither polite nor printable.
Sunrise found a grumbling cook giving them an early breakfast ; but his curiosity regarding Sandy's black hair, eyebrows, and moustache remained unsatisfied.
"Ask Rogue about it," the boy told him with a grin, knowing perfectly weil that he would do no such thing.
For the first few miles the pair rode in silence. Sudden was trying to convince himself that the affairs of the S E owner were no concern of his, and not succeeding very Well. His companion was also deep in thought, riding head down.
The morning air had an invigorating keenness which would presently change to a blistering heat. Around them, Nature was awaking ; birds whistled, rabbits scuttled across their path, and once they saw the long grey form of a big wolf slink into the brush at their approach. It was Sandy who made the first remark:
"Odd I ain't heard o' this gal at the S E."
"She's recently arrived from the East--educated there, I gathered," Sudden explained.
Sandy snorted. "I get yu," he said. "One o' them high-toned dames, with a forehead bulging out like a cliff, who thinks o pore ignorant cowboys is doormats to wipe their number eights n." Sudden chuckled silently. "Now I know yu've met her," he said.
"Yo're wrong, but I savvy the breed," the boy went on. "Thin-lipped, an' that sot in their ideas they'd argue with a charge o' giant-powder."
"She looked liable to get her own way most times," Sudden admitted. "She had the of man roped."
"There yu are," Sandy cried triumphantly. "An' let me tell yu, a mule is an easy-goin' critter alongside Sam Eden. Why, it's told of him that once, when he was gettin' the worst of an argument, he finished it by sayin', `Well, I wouldn't believeit if I knowed it was true.' What can yu do with a fella like that, huh?"
Sudden laughed, partly at the story, but more at the reflection that his friend was due to receive a severe shock when he met the girl he had condemned unseen. Sandy's next remark changed the subject.
"I wouldn't be so terrible distressed if Rogue fell down on this drive-bustin'," he mused. "I don't owe him nothin' an' I shore would like to see them northern cowtowns."
Sudden did not reply at once ; he was wondering if the words had any hidden significance.
"I've a hankerin' thataway my own self," lie confessed.
They reached the S E ranch-house to find it apparently deserted ; the morning meal was over and the men had gone to their work. A hail brought Eden himself to the porch. At the sight of Sudden he called a hearty greeting :
"Hello, young fella, I'm main pleased to see yu. Hope yu aim to stay this time."
"Shore do, Mister Eden, if yu'll have me," Sudden replied. He pointed to his companion. "This is Dick Sands--he's huntin' a job too."
The rancher studied the second of the visitors closely for a moment. "Any friend o' yores is welcome, Green, an' I can certainly use another man," he said, but the warmth had gone out of his voice.